Stephanie Vaughan

Off World: Nelly's Style

Doradus Station - 14 February, 2133

"Jesus Christ, what'd they do to the place? Looks like an explosion in
a red-velvet factory. What the hell kind of a cheap cathouse are
they trying to turn it into?"

"Welcome to St. Valentine's Day, Nelly's style." The broad face of
the doorman beamed back at him.

What the hell?

Sarhaan stood back, taking in the décor, wincing at the
overabundance of blood-red color everywhere he turned. The walls
had been draped in some kind of shimmering red material, gigantic
hearts pierced by stylized arrows in equal overabundance. He'd
taken in the change of costume of the doorman - shiny red vest and
matching bowtie over the usual long-sleeved white shirt and
conservative black pants - but hadn't given it much thought.

Durty Nelly's, the premier nightclub on Doradus and known
throughout the sector for its first-class live sex shows, frequently
changed up the hosts' attire. Theme nights were common at Nelly's,
and when Big Jay had greeted him and Kai, Sarhaan had just
assumed their new red accoutrements were part of that.

Until they'd stepped inside.

The walls and doorman's attire weren't the only things different.
Instead of the usual wall marquee detailing the night's feature
shows in the various rooms, hosts and hostesses from the different
rooms and stages were circulating among the crowd in the main
lobby. Admittedly it was hard to tell some of the women from the
beautiful tranny girls, but ultimately it didn't make a difference.
Either way, Sarhaan wasn't interested.

A blond head caught his eye on the other side of the room, and he
paused in his scan of the lobby. In the past few months his eye had
been educated, and it only took him a split-second to determine the
man with wheat gold hair wasn't Caleb. Meanwhile, a petite
dark-haired female had drawn Kai's attention and the two stood
talking quietly. Kai was shaking his head, politely disengaging
himself, when the woman slanted a self-assured smile in Kai's
direction and flipped her tiny skirt up briefly. A pretty little cock and
pair of balls, all the more noticeable for the hairless surroundings,
were revealed and just as quickly concealed again.

Sarhaan took advantage of Kai's moment of startled pause to
interrupt the exchange. "So where'm I supposed to find Caleb? Why
couldn't we come down together?"

Kai barely spared his friend a glance as he reached out a hand to
the now openly flirtatious hostess, emboldened as she was by Kai's
obvious change of heart. "I'm not sure. He just asked me to get you
here and then give you this." Kai fished an envelope out of his
breast pocket with his free hand and passed it over. "I'll catch up
with you later."

As Kai and his new friend moved away, heading in the direction of
the nightclub's private rooms, Sarhaan switched his gaze from the
sight of his obviously smitten friend back to the cream-colored
envelope, noticing the tasteful Nelly's monogram for the first time.
Ripping open the envelope, Sarhaan inspected its contents.

He'd had his suspicions, based on the weight and shape, so the
electronic chit that doubled as a room key that tumbled out into his
hand wasn't a surprise. Although not a regular by any means,
Sarhaan knew his way around the darkened hall leading to the
private theme rooms, available by the hour to anyone with the
means to pay.

The same key to the same room, given to him by anyone besides
one of his crew - especially one not as trusted as Kai - might have
given Sarhaan pause. Doradus Station was located at the edge of
settled space, the modern equivalent of the old wild west, a frontier
town in a desolate sector. Not completely lawless, but hardly
civilized, either; a man needed to keep his wits about him, and the
possibility of an ambush couldn't be ruled out.

Coming from Kai, though, the invitation took on a different tone.
More than just friends, they were closer than brothers. So Sarhaan
took the chit and looked among the half-dozen lighted signs, each
displaying a stylized icon depicting the theme of the rooms, for the
corresponding sign.

As he pressed the key to a magnetic pad recessed into the wall,
Sarhaan could swear that was the carnelian-red skirt of the pretty
little tranny girl who'd captured Kai's attention disappearing into a
room at the far end of the hall, marked clearly with a cross and
flogger.

Oh, really?

The door in front of him slid open before Sarhaan had time to do
more than register surprise, and the scent of eucalyptus greeted
him. Torches placed at regular intervals along the walls gave the
room a primitive feel, as did the slightly humid scent of the air.

A square marble tub, sunken into the floor, bubbled in the corner,
leaves floating on its surface and steam rising from it into the air. A
massage table and a Roman-style bed big enough for an orgy
occupied two other corners. But it was what he found in the fourth
and final corner that captured his attention completely, drawing him
closer: chained at the ankle to an eye-hook in the floor, a nearly
naked slave boy.

A blond slave boy that resembled Caleb remarkably.

Make that, resembled him exactly.

Wearing only some sort of short, paneled skirt that somehow
managed to accentuate his relative nakedness, lithe arms extended
forward, the slave kneeled low, forehead touching the floor.

"Caleb?"

Obviously Caleb must have something planned; Kai's involvement
guaranteed that. Still, it was damned odd, and Sarhaan looked
warily around the room. He recognized the place, even went so far
as to own up to a grudging fond memory or two, being as it was the
same room he himself had rented for a special evening with Caleb all
those months ago. Barriers had fallen that night, and so had he.

Sarhaan scanned the ceiling, searching amongst the bas-relief
decorations for the camera he'd discovered hidden away there that
same night, and found it covered over.

"How may I serve you, master?"

Master?

Sarhaan's eyebrow went up. "Caleb? What the hell's going on?"

"Permission to speak, sir?"

This was really damned odd. "Of course permission to speak. What's
going on?"

Caleb raised his head, and all ability to form coherent speech fled
Sarhaan. Caleb's face. He'd never … When? Why? Caleb's wide
brown eyes were lined with a dark paint of some kind, a splash of
red extending from beneath the eye, up and out. Caleb's normally
peaches-and-cream skin was powdered to a translucent white,
including his lips - save for a red stripe painted down the middle of
the full lower one. His eyebrows were painted black, again with a
small red stripe blended in. Small figures were drawn in black, one
high on each cheek.

Ni hwa.

A sex slave.

Sarhaan had seen glimpses - brief ones. Heard tales. But he'd
never-

"I am yours, master, to do with what you will. Tell me how I may
please you."

Hardly able to breathe, Sarhaan was instantly hard. Painfully so. He
moved closer, slowly circling Caleb's kneeling form.

More designs were painted on Caleb's arms, one circling the left
biceps, another down the right arm, extending onto the hand. There
was even a mark drawn on one of Caleb's perfectly formed ass
cheeks. Hu jian khcuk. "Property/pleasure."

Holy mother of God.

"You're my pleasure for the evening, is that it … slave?"

Legs planted wide, hands behind his back, a dark, seductive heat
began to fill Sarhaan as he gazed down at Caleb. Arms
outstretched. Vulnerable. More than just the heat of desire,
although there was plenty of that, too.

Caleb looked back. "I am yours, master. I'll do anything you want."

"Oh, really?"

"I want only to serve you." A flash of pink tongue. "Your pleasure is
my pleasure."

A game, surely. But a game that Sarhaan could play, nonetheless.
"Why are you here, slave? What is your crime?"

"I am ashamed to say, master."

"Nevertheless, you will tell me."

"Sir, I … I seduced the son of the house I serve." Caleb's story
sounded so sincere, Sarhaan could almost believe it was true.

"Undress me, then, slave."

Casting his gaze downward, Caleb looked sincerely apologetic.
"Master, forgive me, but I'm not able to do as you ask, um,
command."

"Why not?" Slipping into his role with an ease he found disturbing,
the growl in Sarhaan's voice came effortlessly.

"In order to ensure my cooperation, I was bound. Will you release
me, that I may serve you?"

It was astonishing how much difference the make-up made. Caleb's
beautiful, open face was uncomfortably alien now, the red stripe
drawing attention to that lush mouth. Bringing thoughts unbidden
into Sarhaan's mind of what that mouth could do for him.

"I think I will. What good is a bound slave to me, anyway?"

"I couldn't reach the bed from here, true. But you could use my
mouth. Or my ass."

Bent to examine his slave's fettered ankle, Caleb's response nearly
brought Sarhaan to his knees. He had learned Caleb's body well in
the time they'd been together, but despite their differences in size,
the relationship had been one of relative equals. What Caleb was
suggesting shouldn't have appealed to Sarhaan at all. He was a
civilized man. A warrior, true - but a gentleman as well.

Which was why Sarhaan's next discovery shouldn't have shocked
him. It definitely shouldn't have turned him on. It absolutely
shouldn't have excited him unbearably.

The device penetrating Caleb's ass revealed by the skirt's parted
panels was only a butt plug, after all. But this one appeared to be
made of brass or some other primitive metal. Archaic metals like
brass and bronze had gone the way of gold and silver. They hadn't
been used for anything beyond currency for a hundred years. The
dazzling aquamarine that decorated the protruding end made it
positively decadent.

His dick twitched hard.

Making short work of the ankle cuff, Sarhaan unlocked it and tossed
it aside. "Now. Now you can undress me, slave."

"Thank you, master." Caleb rose to his feet, eyes still downcast.
"Where shall I undress you?"

Already Sarhaan had a hard-on for the ages. This was wrong. He
was appalled at himself. The nasty little truth, though, was that the
notion of Caleb as his plaything, his sexual toy, his slave, was
turning him on mightily.

"Right here is fine. And be careful how you lay them out after you
do. I don't want any wrinkles in them this time."

"No, master. I'll be careful. You'll see."

Keeping his gaze averted, Caleb began removing Sarhaan's shirt, his
fingers maddeningly slow and careful. They lingered as they slipped
beneath the material, undoing the closures with exquisite care, only
slowly allowing the material to fall open.

Standing this close, Sarhaan detected a delicate shading to the
make-up Caleb wore, shading that accentuated the shadow above
his eyes and highlighted his patrician little nose.

Still Caleb's fingers worked with exquisite care, lighting Sarhaan's
skin on fire with fleeting little touches, touches so elusive and
delicate Sarhaan half-wondered if he imagined them. After laying the
shirt carefully aside on a chair, Caleb moved on to Sarhaan's pants.

"Forgive me for my clumsiness, master. I want only to please you,
but I know I'm not worthy."

"Less talk, slave - more action. I should be naked and halfway down
your throat by now." Again, the sneer came easily to Sarhaan's lips.
"Let's not take all night, shall we?"

"No, master. I'm sorry." Caleb knelt before him, his fingers slipping
beneath the waistband of Sarhaan's pants as he began undoing the
clasp there. "Being close to you makes me tremble. I want so much
to please you."

Caleb's careful movements only stoked Sarhaan's fires. Long fingers
caressed Sarhaan's skin as Caleb opened Sarhaan's fly and freed his
rigid arousal. The moist air of Caleb's breath ghosted over the top of
Sarhaan's cock, but only for a moment before Caleb was down on all
fours, removing Sarhaan's pants and boots.

Ass twitching irresistibly, Caleb rose and moved about, aquamarine
stone flashing all the while. Sarhaan cursed himself and the impulse
that had made him bid Caleb take care. Still, this was a game and
roles were the point, not consistency.

"Hurry it up, slave. I've got a hard-on here and nothing to do with
it. I thought you wanted to please me. Well, do you?"

Caleb hastily finished his task and hurried back. "I do. Of course I
do. Please, forgive me." Standing quietly before Sarhaan, breathing
softly, Caleb was breathtaking. Heart-stoppingly gorgeous. Skin like
cream, sleek musculature and golden hair all shining in the
torchlight.

"Then get on your knees and show me some respect."

"I'm sorry, master. Please, sir, how may I respect you?"

That might have been a flash of resentment Sarhaan detected in
Caleb's beautiful brown eyes, eyes made all the more striking by the
ni hwa make-up. The hint of defiance, the glimpse of Caleb's keen
intelligence behind the act, made the game only that much hotter
for Sarhaan.

"That's a poor slave who needs to be told. How do you think you
can? Open your eyes, dammit. Anything come to mind?"

Without a word, Caleb reached for Sarhaan, opening his mouth for
Sarhaan's hard, drooling cock.

"Tomba njema!"

"I'm sorry, master, but you know I don't speak Kush. I'm only an
ignorant slave."

"What was that tone I just heard? Did you take a tone with me?"

"I'm sorry, master, I-"

"Don't interrupt me." Volume increased naturally with Sarhaan's rant,
his petulant demands pouring out with shocking ease. "And don't use
your hands - what kind of ignorant peasant are you? Hands clasped
behind you, like you've been taught. And for God's sake, never
attempt to take me in your mouth without asking permission first. Is
that clear?"

"Yes, master."

"Yes, master … what?"

"I'm sorry, master. Master, may I suck your cock?"

Sarhaan folded his arms and glared. "Is that your best effort? Is it
really?"

"Please, master. May I suck your cock? Please?"

"Oh, all right. Do it properly, though. I'd better see hollowed cheeks,
or I'll be taking it out on your undeserving backside later. Is that
clear?" This was so wrong, but damned if he could stop himself.
Every time he opened his mouth, words came out.

"Yes, master. Please let me suck your cock." Caleb cast an artfully
pleading glance upward. "I'll do my best to please you, I promise."

"Well, then. You may begin."

God, he was so damned hot, Sarhaan didn't know how he kept from
coming the instant Caleb swallowed him down. Using mostly his lips,
but with just enough of a hint of teeth to make things ecstatic,
Caleb worked Sarhaan's dick, slid up and down, pale face reflecting
a rapturous pleasure. Game or no, Caleb responded to it. Caleb's
golden hair glowed in the reflected light of the wall torches, as his
mouth bestowed an other-worldly pleasure. Sarhaan half-closed his
eyes and let the fantasy take him.

* * *

"I didn't mean to let us fall asleep."

It was the early hours of the morning, and the hourly rate the room
rented for meant they'd have a hell of a bill to settle up when they
finally left. Sarhaan couldn't bring himself to care. "That's okay,
baby. My fault as much as yours."

"Sarhaan?"

"Mm-hmm?" Sarhaan tried to open his eyes and failed. Besides, if he
opened them and got a look at Caleb in the make-up, the cycle
would start all over again and the two of them might never leave.

"You really plowed my ass, you know that?"

Caleb's fingers stroked idly along Sarhaan's side, his quiet breathing
making a warm, moist spot along Sarhaan's shoulder as they lay
curled around each other.

"Yeah, I did. God. You were incredible."

"I prob'ly won't sit for a week."

"Yeah?" Caleb's sleepy mumble couldn't be any cuter. Sarhaan
yawned. "How many times did you come? I lost count."

"Three. No, four. No … I don't know. Hey, happy Valentine's Day."

"Huh?" Even without opening his eyes, Sarhaan could tell Caleb was
smiling. "Is that what this was all about?"

"You couldn't tell? It was my first. I wasn't sure how to celebrate it
since it's, you know, outlawed and all." A defensive note crept into
Caleb's voice that Sarhaan couldn't allow.

"Nah, you did great, baby. So. Mind telling me what've you got in
mind for Easter? Or is that a surprise, too?"

End

© 2007, Stephanie Vaughan
All rights reserved